30 years of walks. Still your neighbors.
Big enough to get it right. Small enough to know your pup.
Out-U-Go! started in Oak Park in 1996 with David and his dog Scrap. Today our local teams care for dogs, cats and pet parents across Chicagoland, Colorado and Wisconsin.
We're not an app, and we're not a one-person show. We're neighbors with a whole team behind every visit, running good old-fashioned local businesses in our own communities.
Every photo on our site is our own team doing what we love. No stock photos.
What makes us different
Most pet parents end up choosing between a few kinds of help. Here's how we compare.
Dog walking apps
Whoever accepts the job that day.
Star ratings instead of relationships.
Support tickets and chatbots.
Owned by investors far away.
Solo walkers & mom-and-pop shops
Lots of good people who love dogs, often stretched thin.
One or two people doing it all. When they're sick or booked up, you're on your own.
Hard to reach mid-day, and last-minute changes can be tough to fit in.
Walkers are often independent contractors, and insurance can be thin.
Training and backup plans vary a lot.
Familiar faces who get to know your pup and their routine.
A whole local team behind every visit, so walks still happen.
Same-day extra visits and easy schedule changes.
Employees, never independent contractors. Background checked, trained, bonded and insured.
A local support team that gets back to you the same day, not a chatbot.
Owned by the people who run it, together for years.
Want to talk to our chatbot? Of course you don't.We don't have one. Reach out and you'll hear from someone on our local team who knows your neighborhood.
It started with Scrap.
Out-U-Go! began in Oak Park in 1996, and my dog Scrap was one of our very first customers. Smart, loyal and endlessly hungry, he was the Robin to my Batman. (If you asked him, he was Batman.)
I was in my early 20s when I took the leash, and for the first few years I walked most of the dogs myself. That's where I learned what matters most to pet parents. They want someone who knows their dog like family, someone they have a relationship with, and someone they can always count on to be there. Those walks are still the blueprint for how we do things.
Thirty years later we're a little bigger, but we've stayed local. Every neighborhood is led by people who live nearby, and most of them have been with us for more than a decade.
Big wags,DavidTop Dog & Founder
How the family grew
Wait, aren't you a franchise?
Sort of, but probably not the way you're picturing. A few of our neighborhoods are owned by Top Dogs: my cousin Dan in Colorado, Lindsay, Amanda and Rachel. They're people I've known and worked with for years, most of them for more than a decade. They live where they work, lead their own local teams and care for their own neighbors' pets. Oak Park, Chicago and the North Shore I still run myself, with a team that's been caring for pups here for decades.
What we all share is how we do things: the same training, the same standards and the same belief that your pup should be treated like family. There's no faraway corporate office calling the shots. Just a handful of local business owners who help each other get it right.
What 30 years taught us
Dog walking is harder than it looks. No two homes or pets are the same, and we're caring for two of the most important things in your life. It means being in a lot of places in tight time windows while getting every detail right, from feeding to locking up to keeping every pup safe. After 30 years, we've learned how to get the details right so every visit goes well.
And even though we cover more ground than most, every one of our teams is local. They get to know you and your furry family members, and they stick around.
Show up, no matter what.
Snow days, holidays and sick days. When someone on our team is out, someone else covers, so your pup's walk still happens.
Be picky about who we hire.
Every walker and sitter at every Out-U-Go! is an employee, never an independent contractor. That means we hire them carefully, background check them, train them through Dog Walk University, our own program, and stand behind every visit. We're bonded and insured, too. And if a visit is ever not right, tell us and we'll make it right.
Life changes. Roll with it.
Need an extra visit today? You can add one as late as 8am the same day. New work schedule, a pup recovering from surgery, a new baby or a move? Tell us and we'll work it out. We have a few deadlines, but we'll always do everything we can to make it work.
Always get back to you.
Every neighborhood has its own local support team. Call, email or message us through the customer portal and you'll hear back the same day, from people who know you and your pets.
The original dog on the block
We were walking dogs here before most people had heard of a dog walker, and the more you do something, the better you get at it. Our team has seen every leash puller, escape artist, thunderstorm hider and senior pup who needs to take it slow.
Because so many of us have been here for years, all that experience stays with your pup. That means familiar faces year after year, and a team that already knows the neighborhood, the shortcuts and the best sniff spots.
Happy team, happy pups
We built Out-U-Go! around a simple idea. When our team feels supported and cared for, they can put all their energy into your pets. Happy people make happy pups, and happy pups make for happy pet parents.
Nobody here got into this to get rich. But we get paid to spend our days with dogs and cats, alongside people we like. We're thankful for that every day.
The people behind every neighborhood
Every Out-U-Go! is privately owned, with no outside investors or private equity. Each neighborhood is led by a Top Dog who lives in the community they serve. Here are some of the people who've been at this together for a very long time.
Since the '90sDavidTop Dog & FounderOak Park area native. Leads Oak Park, Chicago and the North Shore.
25+ yearsCarrieDog Walker, Oak ParkWalking Oak Park pups for over 25 years.
Since 2006DanTop Dog, Denver & BoulderDavid's cousin. Lives in Denver and earned both his undergrad and graduate degrees at CU Boulder.
Since 2009LindsayTop Dog, South Loop & NapervilleJoined Out-U-Go! after earning her MBA. Opened South Loop, where she lived for years, and has led Naperville for over a decade.
Since 2009AmandaTop Dog, Downers GroveGrew up in the area and still lives there.
Since 2011ChuckTop Ops DogHandles everything from technology to finance and supports every location behind the scenes.
10+ yearsHeatherCanine Concierge, Downers GroveStarted out with Lindsay in Naperville, and has been Amanda's right hand in Downers Grove ever since.
10+ yearsEmilyScheduling & Team SupportStarted as a dog walker in Chicago. Now matches pups and people for Oak Park, Chicago and the North Shore.
Since 2017MeiCanine Concierge, MadisonRuns the Madison office day to day. Welcomes new pet parents, sets up meet & greets and makes sure every visit is covered.
Since 2024RachelTop Dog, MadisonMadison local and UW grad who ran a famous local Madison cookie truck before this. Her sister Robyn and mom Laura are on the team.Plus the walkers and sitters out on the sidewalks
A few of the friendly faces caring for pups in our neighborhoods every day.
We love all living things.
Dogs, cats and people, sure. But also the chipmunks and rabbits in the backyard and the deer and coyotes at the edge of the woods. We have a deep respect for nature and every living thing in it, each with its own needs and its own personality. It's the same way we look at your pets.
I love watching birds and am always on the lookout for spring warblers and winter woodpeckers. On clear nights the telescope comes out for the stars and nebulae, and I love any time outside, from a foggy morning to a long dusk.
My pups are along with me for almost all of it. Ziggy, a rescue from Evanston, is a bossy, overly dramatic beagle mix and my shadow. We hike, swim and paddle board together. Olive is a sweet girl from Animal Care League in Oak Park. She's all long legs, a little of every kind of dog, and she came named after Olive Oyl, so we kept it. Rescue is close to our hearts, and over the years Out-U-Go! has supported local shelters with donations and sponsorships.
And the little kid on our Check Availability page? That's my son, Pierson. He's over 20 now.
Come be part of the family.
Tell us where you live and we'll introduce you to your neighborhood team.
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